Guardian Angel
by joelcoxriley
Summary: In a world where only darkness and death rule underground, light in the form of a stranger saves her life. Little did she know that the stranger was her guardian angel.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything within this story but the young woman

Guardian Angel

"Hurry it up, Rook. You're slowing us down." Marcus Fenix grumbled roughly, startling the young soldier upon hearing the harshness of his squad leader's voice.

"Oh! Um, yes Sir! Sorry Sargent Fenix!" Carmine apologized like a kicked dog, wondering how his allies moved so fast in the darkness with ruble around their feet. They must have had years of practice.

"I thought I told you to knock that shit off, kid." Marcus growled, the young man yelping slightly. "Oh. Sorry, Sarge!" Carmine replied sheepishly, on edge in the darkness of the underground lair, his imagination taking hold as he kept thinking monsters would pop out of the blackness.

Delta Squad had been moving through a small town that was long since abandoned. Or so they thought. Little did they know the ghost town was inhabited by locusts and that the creatures had made a lair underneath the ruined town. The inhabitants of the town weren't killed as originally thought. Instead the locusts had captured the remaining stranded and locked them up in what seemed like old prison cells. The squad found the cells when the town sunk into the ground, the earth unable to support its weight from all the tunnels underneath it. It was a miracle the squad didn't fall to their deaths or get crushed by buildings during the fall.

"Fuckin' A! I can't see shit in here, Marcus!" Cole bellowed in dismay only to have Baird punch the man slightly. "Ooohh, was that you, Cole? You know I thought I smacked the wall but then I heard the wall BITCHING. And-"

"Baird. Shut the fuck up." Marcus growled, stopping the conflict before it went any further.

"S-Sarge?"

"Yeah, Carmine?"

"We-we're not leaving them behind are we? The people in the cells? They need help-"

"They're dead, Carmine. You saw the bodies."

"But….but the girl…Sarge?"

"She's dead. They're all dead."

"B-"

"People are going to die, kid. And more will. It's a shame I know but…." Marcus paused, trying to think of the words that would gently break the young man's hope. It was a lesson he needed to learn. "Sometimes you can't help them, Carmine. Sometimes they're too far gone."

"Bu…..Yes, Sarge." Carmine muttered, saddened that they were dooming people that could be saved to their deaths. Carmine's shoulders slumped slightly, but he quickly commanded them to stop. Marcus was his leader after all and he would try to learn from him and make his Sargent proud.

The squad followed the cave system, the tunnel slopping upwards slightly as the dust filled air began to clear, giving way to fresh air with the smell of pine.

"Oh, thank God, man! And it only took you forever to get us out of that hellhole!" Baird cried, Marcus quickly shutting him up with an icy glare.

"Alright, Delta…" Marcus sighed, looking at his squad as they awaited his orders. Each member looked physically exhausted. "Set up camp tonight, Delta. You've earned it." Marcus reasoned. His squad has been through hell and they needed a break.

"WHOO!" Cole cheered happily as the team moved toward a clearing in the trees, Carmine more than happy to look for kindle to start a small fire. After many failed attempts the squad finally succeeded in started a small fire, fearing it would attract unwanted attention if the fire grew too large.

The moon was high in the night sky as the squad slumbered, Carmine tossing and turning tiredly at his inability to fall asleep. It was the guilt. That horrible feeling of guilt that kept eating and eating away at him. He knew people were alive in those cells. He saw a woman alive. It didn't matter if she was going to die in time, she was ALIVE. And Carmine couldn't leave her to die. He kept imaging his mother or one of his brothers being in the woman's place. The very thought of seeing his loved ones in harm froze his heart. He lost Anthony to the war. He couldn't lose any more family members. And his heart wouldn't allow him to sit still while a woman was dying, still alive, perhaps waiting for a family member to rescue her. A family member that may never come or arrive too late.

That settled it. Carmine got to his feet, trying to move as quietly as possible in his armor as he stepped around his sleeping squad mates, startled as he heard Marcus' rough voice call out in the shadows

"Where you goin', Rook?'

"Sarge! I….I…uuhh….have to "go". Ya know? Call of Nature." Carmine stuttered. He had no idea his Sargent was still taking watch. But it made sense. Marcus would have been a horrible squad leader if he didn't protect his men.

"Hmp. Don't let a ticker bite you in the ass." Marcus smirked slightly, dark humor in his voice as Carmine chuckled nervously. "Wilco, Sarge! Be right back." Carmine stated, and walked off into the shadows, making sure he was out of sight before approaching the gaping mouth of the underground tunnel.

Carmine stumbled slightly in the darkness, the eyes of his helmet glowing a soft blue as it improved his vision, his helmet fogging up slightly in the colder temperatures of the earth.

"Hello! Is anyone here? Hello?" Carmine called into the darkness, knowing it was bold and stupid to be calling out in the darkness where anything could hide. But if the woman is alive….

Carmine paused completely as he heard a ragged cough fill the tunnel. It sounded painful, like a car engine trying to start before finally dying. Once the noise stopped, Carmine moved to where he guessed the noise came from, standing hesitantly at the mouth of the cell. He saw bodies. Bodies of women, men, even children. It scared him. His heart began to cry out as his brain struggled to imagine what these people did to deserve such horrible fates. Some looked like they starved to death while others seemed like they were beaten or shot. But others…had bite marks. Their flesh was torn off. Carmine prayed silently to himself, his irrational fears screaming "zombies" as if the dead would suddenly come alive and feast on him too.

"H-Hello?" Carmine stammered, forcing himself to look around the cell and moving to the next one upon finding nothing.

"Hello? Please, if you're here I-I want to help." Carmine pleaded and forced himself to look into the second cell, finding similar results. Carmine sighed and made his way to move before hearing the cough again. This time he knew where it was. It was coming from the second cell.

"Hello? Are-are you hurt? Are you sick?" Carmine asked as he moved cautiously into the cell, trying his best to avoid stepping on the bodies, pausing as he saw a woman curled up in the fetal position in the far corner.

The woman had shoulder length hair but Carmine couldn't properly tell what color it was in the dark. He saw that she wore a buttoned up shirt that looked like a lighter color and what looked like a black buttoned vest over the shirt and what he guessed was blue jeans. Badly ripped blue jeans. Her shirt and vest were ripped and torn and stained with fluids he didn't want to know was. She was severely malnourished, her clothes looking like there were a size too big. And she was staring at him, shaking as her eyes shown with fear.

"Hey, it's alright. I want to help you. Don't be scared. The locusts are gone." Carmine cooed softly, trying his best to get the woman to calm down as he slowly walked toward her, the woman trying the move deeper against the wall, as if trying to melt into it to get away from the stranger but far too weak to run or even try to get up.

"N….n….n…" The woman struggled out, her throat too dry to speak as she watched in fear and helplessness as the man approached her, crouching to her level about a foot in front of her.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. See?" Carmine soothed, holding up his gloved hands for the woman to see that he had no intention of harming her.

"Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?" Carmine asked, the woman flinching and gaining new fear as she saw his hands disappear behind his body, hearing the sound of a zipper unzipping. The woman calmed slightly as she saw the man produce a small canteen, holding it out for the woman to take as she eyed it wearily, as if wondering if it was poison.

Carmine waited for the woman to take the object for several seconds before retracting the canteen, shaking it as he heard the liquid slosh around inside. "Uuhh, it's not that full. You can drink all of it if you want." Carmine said and offered the woman the canteen again, the woman hesitating for several seconds before weakly grabbing the canteen and trying to remove the cap only to find herself too weak.

"Here. I can do that." Carmine spook softly as he gently took the canteen from the woman, as if afraid of hurting her if he took it from her too roughly and unscrewed the cap before returning it to the woman.

Carmine watched as the woman put her cracked and bleeding lips on the mouth of the canteen, hearing her drink hungrily as she chugged the liquid, the water seeping out of her mouth as she drank too fast. The canteen ran out as the woman tried to shake the canteen, wanting more water but finding none as she tried to lick the remaining drops out with her tongue.

The woman coughed slightly as the water revived her vocal cords, licking her mouth as she regretfully handed the canteen back to the man, Carmine putting the canteen back into his pants pocket.

"Th….Thank….you." The woman wheezed, her voice heavily cracked and raspy from not speaking in so long and lack of liquid in her system.

"You're welcome." Carmine answered, smiling underneath his helmet from the good deed. The smile quickly died as the woman's small body began to rack with coughs, the dust in the air coating her lungs painfully.

"Hey, are you alright? Ma'am?" Carmine asked and gently put his hand on her shoulder to steady the woman, Carmine shocked as the woman suddenly smacked his hand away from her. It wasn't a strong smack, but it was a smack none the less.

"Do not…..TOUCH me…..never….touch…..no touch…." The woman hissed, fear overwhelming her as Carmine held up his hands to show he meant no harm.

"I'm sorry. I….didn't know." Carmine backed away slightly, giving the woman more space. It's not like she could hurt him but still.

"It's…..it's okay. You're not….like the others. Not cruel." The woman replied, her voice steadily returning.

"Like the others? Do you mean the locusts?" Carmine asked, the woman shaking her head in response. "No. Locusts are….they don't know mercy. Humans….the COG….they know mercy…..yet they don't GIVE mercy. Your kind is strong and cuel….so very cruel….."

"Miss? If you don't mind me asking….what did the COG do?" Carmine asked, curious but fearful of the woman's response at seeming pain fill her eyes.

"Many things, horrible things. Things I never wanted to be in. Things I never wanted to….do." The woman replied softly, her natural tone soft and quiet, causing Carmine to lean in closer to hear her better, the woman taking his action as a threat as she backed away in fear.

"NO! D-don't get closer! The soldiers are mean and cruel! They make us do things we don't want to do! Th-They touch us! Use us! Force us to bare their offspring! Inject us with chemicals to make us fertile! That's what they do to women. To ones who don't go into the army—they use us as breeding cattle!" The woman screamed in fear, and whether she realized it or not the woman had tears streaming down her face.

"Oh….oh, my God….How could they do that? Why? I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know that they…..did that to you." Carmine apologized, now realizing why the woman acted with such fear when he made physical contact with her. They forced themselves on her.

The woman quieted her crying, her eyes shining with tears as she looked at the soft blue glow his helmet produced. It reminded her of a night light.

"It's okay. You didn't know. But I can see you're not like the others. You have kindness in your voice. You came back when the others didn't. Why?" The woman asked, her breathing raspy from the dusty air as Carmine shifted uncomfortably. "I came to help you. Get you out of here. I….I couldn't bare the thought of leaving someone to die here."

The woman smiled at his words. "I can't remember what the sun looks anymore. Nothing but death and darkness. Am I all that's left?"

"I think so, ma'am. We did search but…we only found bodies." Carmine replied sadly, the woman turning crestfallen at the reply. "I have to get you out of here. If I don't then….you'll die."

"I know. I don't want to die." The woman stated and tried to get up but found herself too weak to get on her feet.  
"Here. Eat this." Carmine replied, handing the young woman what looked like a giant, fat cracker that he fished out of his pack, the woman staring at it, unsure.

"What is it?" The woman asked, biting into it as Carmine approved at her actions. "It's rations from the COG. It'll keep you alive but it tastes like cardboard." Carmine replied. He didn't know what was in it, but damn it worked.

The young soldier waited until the female finished the ration before ramming another mutant cracker in her face. It was his last ration, but the woman needed it more than him.

"Are you ready?" Carmine asked as the woman nodded, though still too weak to move on her own. Carmine moved toward the woman and gently grabbed her arms, the woman tensing with fear as he carefully lifted her up, afraid of harming her and terrified by how skinny she felt.

The woman squeaked and trembled as he led her out the cell, her legs not used to supporting her own weight as she took one wobbly step after the other, Carmine keeping a gentle grip on her to steady the girl.

As the pair made their way down the tunnel the woman's legs began to get used to walking, Carmine now holding her at arm's length as she now walked with him, his hand still gripping her wrist gently.

"I've forgotten how good it feels to walk again!" The woman exclaimed, laughing softly as Carmine smiled. "Yeah! It's all the rage!"

The pair made their way to the end of the tunnel; dawn approaching slowly as the woman collapsed at the mouth of the cave, Carmine catching her as she collapsed in his arms, the young man gently laying her down on the grass as he collapsed next to her.

Carmine noticed the woman was shaking but was unsure if it was from the excitement or from the fear of him touching her. But he did know that she was smiling. And crying.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The woman gasped, crystals dancing in her eyes as she saw the sun rise for the first time in months, Carmine now able to make out her features better in the light.

The woman was deathly pale due to the lack of sunlight, bringing out her deep blue eyes that glowed with happiness, her cracked and bloodied lips up in a tight smile as scarlet hair flowed around her head, thinning slightly from lack of food and water. Her buttons shirt was white and stained with blood.

"Every night….I prayed and prayed and prayed for God to give me a sign that I wasn't abandoned. That I wasn't alone. And now I know. He sent me you. I think…you're my guardian angel." The woman replied, smiling at Carmine as the soldier couldn't help but smile under his helmet.

"And do I have the honor of knowing my Guardian's name?" The woman asked, Carmine extending out his gloved hand hesitantly as he responded. "Private Ben Carmine, ma'am. At your service." Carmine replied, the woman extending her hand slightly as Carmine wrapped his larger fingers around her smaller hand in a brief handshake.

"And do I get the honor of knowing your name, ma'am?" Carmine asked, teasing the woman slightly as she cocked her head to the side, as if trying to remember her own name.

"Alura. My name is Alura."

I may continue this but I am unsure if I truely should. Please comment and give me your opinions.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alura?" Carmine asked, the woman nodding and smiling softly in response. It felt good to say her own name again. She almost forgot it.

"That's…..That's a pretty name." Carmine replied, almost unsure as he feared the woman would take offence to his compliment but relaxed upon finding her smiling again, staring up at the pink sky as the sun rose.

"Look at the clouds!" Alura whispered excitedly, trying her best to point at the pink puffs of cotton among the golden rays of the rising sun, Carmine chuckling slightly.

"Yeah, I see 'em. They're pretty aren't they?" Carmine asked, Alura nodding in response, staring at the natural display above her in amazement, causing Carmine to feel pity for the young woman.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you. I…couldn't even begin to imagine why….." Carmine broke off, noticing the young woman staring at him. It was that look. The look that asked "Why? What did I do wrong?"

Carmine swallowed hard as he felt his throat suddenly become dry. Her eyes showed so much hurt and pain and he wasn't sure what to say to her.

"Alura, I'm-"

"I know." Alura replied softly. It sounded like she was going to cry.

"Alura, I'm not going to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. And Sargent Marcus – he can help!" Carmine tried his best to persuade the woman but she only shrunk farther away, her tiny form shaking slightly.

"No. No I don't want to go to them." Alura hissed, Carmine shocked as she suddenly shot up into a sitting position. Her body seemed to be fueled by the rations but Carmine couldn't tell for sure with her loose clothing.

"I don't want to go back to HIM." Alura spat in disgust, Carmine rising from his position on the ground in case she tried to make a break for it. He doubted it, but you never knew.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Who's 'him'?" Carmine asked, confused as to why the woman suddenly seemed violent.

"My 'husband' is who he is. Or so he would have you believe. If you take me to this Sargent he'll just send me right back to him!" Alura spat. However this man was, she obviously hated him.

"Pigs! Pigs, pigs, pigs is what they all are! Every last one of them!" Alura seethed.

"Even me? Don't you trust me? Even after all I did for you?" Carmine asked, slightly hurt as his anger began to rise, slowly bubbling over. "I didn't have to go back for you, ya know! I could have just left you there to die!" Carmine shot back, the woman rendered silent at the truth in his words.

"I..I'm sorry. You're right. You could have left me to die but I'm glad you didn't. I didn't mean to sound so ungrateful." Alura apologized. "I'm just not used to men helping me unless they want…..something. Wait…..you don't…."

"Huh? Oh! Oh, no. I….I didn't even think of wanting something for compensation." Carmine stuttered slightly, hearing the woman breathe a sigh of relief.

"You're the first man who never wanted something like that. I'm glad." Alura smiled softly.

"Really? Not all of us are like that you know." Carmine added, trying to prove his point.

"I find that hard to believe. You have never been inside a breeding camp." Alura pointed out.

"Well…..no. I would hope not. It sounds horrible."

"It is." Alura stated flatly.

"So…..who's this guy you don't like?" Carmine asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"He….was a gear that spent most of his time at the breeding center." Alura replied softly.

"Oh. So….did he…?" Carmine wanted to ask, but didn't feel that he had the right to intrude on someone's personal life. Forced or no.

"Mmmm hmm." Alura nodded slightly, Carmine giving a soft "oh" in response. If she didn't want to continue he wouldn't press further.

"His name is….Jediah. Jediah Cross. But there's nothing religious about him. He's mean and cruel. He always was. Even to our…..my…daughter." Alura spoke softly, pausing to collect her thoughts.

"He never spent any time with her. Never even bothered to play with her or take care of her or teach her how to take her first steps or first words. He wasn't even there the day she….when she really needed him. The day she died." Alura explained, clearing her throat as if to dismiss the memories.

"I'm sorry. Did she….have a name?" Carmine asked, hesitant in his curiosity.

"Yes. Her name was Ana." Alura replied.

"That's a beautiful name." Carmine spook quietly, Alura turning to him as her features softened slightly, her sullen face turning into a small smile.

"Thank you. I know it may not mean much but she always loved to meet new people. I think she would want to meet you the most. The man that saved her mother." Alura replied, smiling sadly.

"So would I, Alura. So would I." Carmine replied, thinking slightly. "I think Ana would have loved to meet my brother, Anthony. Maybe they already have…."

"Oh. I'm sorry. How did he…?"

"All I know is that my brother died a Hero's death. I only hope I can live up to that legacy."

"Do you have to be a hero to die? You saved my life. That's very heroic." Alura reasoned.

"Well…..yeah I guess. But True Heroes never come back. Like my brother." Carmine replied softly before shaking his head. "But thanks for thinking me as such."

"Ummm….I'm sorry what was your name again?" Alura asked, embarrassed at the fact that she had forgotten the young man's name in such a short period of time, her face flushing slightly.

"Ben Carmine! Most people call me Carmine but you can call me Ben if you want. It doesn't really matter to me." Carmine replied, Alura flushing even worse.

"I-I'm sorry. I really am-am."

"Hey, it's no sweat. I'm used to people forgetting my name or mistaking me for one of my brothers." Carmine replied, almost cheery of that fact.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, um, Ben?" Alura replied, sounding unsure.

"There you go!" Carmine cheered slightly, giving the woman a thumbs up in approval.

"I'm sorry if I just….unloaded on you like that. I'm sure you didn't want to hear everything." Alura apologized.

"Meh. Everyone needs a little down time, ya know? Release their stress." Carmine replied, shrugging his shoulders to show that there was no hard feelings.

"I'm glad you understand." Alura spoke, looking relieved as Carmine crossed his arms over his chest in a victorious manner.

"See? I was right." Carmine stated, causing the woman to look at him strangely.

"Excuse me?"

"Not ALL guys are douches. Just almost all of the guys you met happed to be douches. Especially that Cross guy." Carmine replied. "And I would be a douche bag if I said it wasn't okay when you started opening up to me."

"Well….." Alura struggled, at a loss for words or reasoning as she felt the excited energy pour from the soldier. She could practically feel his smile.

"I…I guess you're right. At least you're not." Alura submitted. At times Carmine seemed more like a child than a young man to her, and that confused her.

"I would hope not…" Carmine mumbled slightly as the pair glanced up at the sky, now a soft blue as a new day greeted them.

Alura jumped and yelped as she noticed figures emerge from the trees, Carmine cursing softly to himself as he noticed his squad stared at the pair.

They didn't look too happy,

And judging by the icy stare of the Sargent's eyes, neither was Marcus.


	3. Chapter 3

"S-Sarge! I-I...ummm..." Carmine stuttered, stopping himself. He couldn't defend himself for his choice of actions. He had disobeyed a direct order from his Sergeant when he was specifically told not to go looking for survivors.

"What did I tell you, Carmine?" Marcus asked, his voice filled with withheld anger as Carmine shifted in place.

"You...you told me not to go back, Sarge." Carmine whispered, fear causing his voice to waver.

"But you did anyway, Rook! And now we're in the middle of hostile fucking territory with a civilian!" Marcus cursed, Carmine shrinking into himself as Alura began to shake in fear. Ben had said this man could help. He wasn't going to help at all.

"I'm sorry!" Carmine cried, his voice slightly shrill. He could feel the eyes of his squad mates on him and could feel their judgments. Carmine had let down both himself and his squad.

"You're goddamn fucking right you're sorry!" Marcus barked before calming down some. "Get back to camp, Carmine. This will never happen again." Marcus seethed, Carmine practically running in terror and embarrassment back to the makeshift camp.

"Ahhh, shit." Marcus cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked at the woman, Alura stiff in terror. She had to be a stranded.

"Don't you think you were hard on the kid, Marcus?" Dom asked. "I mean, Carmine was only doing what he thought was right."

"I know, Dom. I know, but..." Marcus sighed. "He can't disobey orders like that. It'll get him court martialed one day when he pisses off the wrong officer."

"Yeah, lovely. So what are we gonna do with _this_?" Baird asked, gesturing to the woman. "She looks like a damn twig."

"We leave her." Marcus stated rather flatly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Leave her? We can't just leave her, Marcus!" Dom argued, Baird rolling his eyes.

"Sure we can! This is the part where we walk away, pretend we never saw the bum and leave her body for the buzzards!" Baird explained, eager to get away from the standard. Baird eyed her over a second time. He was hoping he could use her to get his rocks off but looking at her...he didn't even want to get within twenty feet of the woman. He'd rather jack off than fuck a filthy stranded. She didn't even look healthy enough for sex, like one thrust would snap her in half.

"Mmmmhmmm, Dom's right, Marcus. We can't leave the little lady here. My Mama raised me with manners unlike Baird." Cole joked slightly, jabbing at the blonde.

"Stop it, asshole!" Baird snapped, Cole laughing. "We don't need a lazy bum to take up space around here! She'll eat all our food like a fat cow!" Baird hissed, Alura's facial features twitching slightly at the insult. She was too terrified to even speak. These men scared her.

"Aaaaww, don't worry lil' lady! Baby Baird's just in a bad mood 'cause his mama never loved him!" Cole laughed, smiling brightly at Alura. She didn't respond in the slightest. She just...started, her eyes wide with fear.

"Do you think she's traumatized, Marcus? She's not doing anything." Dom asked, approaching the woman, Alura jumping back, her eyes wild with fear. Her legs could barely support her she was shaking so bad.

"Don't touch me!" Alura hissed, her voice failing to sound threatening at the softness in her voice, Dom raising his hands.

"Hey, hey! Calm down! We won't hurt you." Dom spoke, his voice soft and gentle as Alura watched his movements closely.

"No need to fear! The Co-" Cole stopped dead in mid sentence as the woman fell over with a soft thump, Cole starring at the unconscious woman. She was so terrified she fainted.

"Is she dead? Good, let's go!" Baird turned around and walked back to camp without a seconds thought. One less bum on the face of Sera.

"I'm not that scary am I?" Cole asked, crestfallen as he looked to Marcus then to Dom, both refusing to answer.

Dom looked at Marcus, Marcus shaking his head.

"No, Dom. We're not taking her."

"She'll die out here, Marcus! What if she was Maria? If Maria was in this condition I sure as hell wouldn't leave her!" Dom asked, Marcus falling silent. Damn. Dom did have a point.

Marcus sighed, pressing his earpiece, Dom smiling and nodding in thanks.

"Command? This is Delta requesting a KR to our position." Marcus spoke into his earpiece. He doubted they would send one, but it was worth a try.

"Negative, Delta. Your position it far too deep into enemy territory. Continue with the mission."  
Marcus signed, Dom and Cole looking crestfallen. They felt bad for the woman, and the squad was torn about her fate.

Sometimes, Marcus hated being the squad leader.

Carmine shifted nervously where he stood. He felt horrible that he had let his squad down, but he had done what he thought was right.

Carmine kept glancing in the direction of the abandoned ruins. He knew what he did was stupid, but he didn't care. That poor woman needed his help. He couldn't stop his heart from beating so fast. He feared for her. He knew he shouldn't, but he felt almost responsible for what happened to Alura. He couldn't imagine what she went through. It must have been horrible.

Carmine kept imaging he would hear a single gunshot from a pistol or a lancer, the noise echoing in his head. That was what he feared. He feared them killing Alura for being in too poor condition or a nuisance to the mission. Who gave them the power to choose who lived and died? They couldn't kill Alura. She survived all this time and had to be kept alive for some reason.

The young soldier thought back to a saying in the Bible he had read once, and held fast to it ever since. Do unto others as you would have do unto you. He certainly didn't want someone ending his life just because he was deemed too weak to live. He wasn't sure if he could do that to another person if need be.

The youngest Carmine brother turned in the direction of footsteps approaching, his heart hammering.

Baird cursed as he pushed his way through the foliage, Carmine calming down slightly at the fact that it wasn't his Sargent.

"What happened?" Carmine asked, Baird glancing at his squad mate before shrugging his shoulders carelessly.

"How should I know? Bitch dropped over dead."

"D...Dead?" Carmine stuttered. "Really?"

"I wish." Baird muttered to himself, Carmine releasing a sigh.

"Oh. Good. Ya know for a second I really thought-" Carmine was cut off as a single shot ran through the air, the sky echoing with the sound of a lancer shot. Carmine could feel his heart skip a beat and freeze in fear.

"Oh, God...oh, no..."


	4. Chapter 4

Please tell me what you think.

"God fucking damnit! Enemy contact! Hit 'em hard, Delta!" Marcus ordered, taking cover behind a tree as locusts emerged from the ruined tunnels underneath.

"What the hell, Marcus? Didn't Carmine come from down there with the girl?" Dom asked, shooting from behind cover as he heard a pained cry come from a drone.

"The rook must have woken up the whole horde. Just fucking great..." Marcus cursed, kneeling protectively over the stranded on the ground. It was a good thing she was unconscious. She couldn't get into any trouble that way.

"Cole, get the girl out of here! Now!" Marcus roared over the fire, blindly firing as more locusts emerged. There was too many. They would have to fall back.

"You got it, Marcus." Cole replied, moving from tree to tree to get behind cover before dashing to the pair.

"Come on, lil' lady. Upsy daisy." Cole spoke gently, almost cooing as he scooped up the woman so that she rested limply in her arms, still unconscious. Cole grimaced upon feeling how small she was. She seemed so fragile. Cole could only wonder what the locusts put her through.

"Shit! They're trying to flank us!" Dom cried, cursing as a bullet scraped his arm, pointing the lancer towards the drone and shooting a short burst, smirking as blood shot out from the drone's skull as the bullet cut clean through.

"Fall back, Delta! Fall back!" Marcus cried, breaking from cover as he and Dom provided cover fire for Cole, the man cradling the stranded in his arms like she was a child.

"Smoke out!" Marcus watched as a grenade flew in front of them, followed by another as the grenades exploded, covering their escape as Baird and Carmine returned to their allies, briefly returning cover fire before retreating with their squad.

The squad bolted through the forest, running and jumping over rocks, fallen logs and occasional ruins, hearing the cries of the locust slowly fade into the distance.

Marcus ran towards the edge of the trees, gasping as he fell down a sudden small slope followed by a splash, Cole skidding to the edge, Dom nearly falling over as Baird slowed to a stop feet from the actual slope.

"I-I think we lost em, Sarge! I think we-aaahhhhgg!" Carmine screamed as he fell down the edge, the sound of water splashing reaching their ears as Baird shook his head in annoyance.

"You alright, Marcus?" Dom asked, laughing slightly as he skidded down the slope.

"Just fucking fine. Get off me, Rook." Marcus growled, Carmine yelping at having fallen on his Sergeant, quickly getting off him.

"Y-Yes, Sarge." Carmine replied, shaking the water off him like a dog as Dom helped Marcus to his feet.

"Thanks." Marcus spoke, looking around at his squadmates as Cole and Baird made their way down the slope.

"Is everyone okay?" Marcus asked, Baird scoffing.

"What? Aside from getting shot at and dragging a worthless bum around? Oh, just peachy." Baird grumbled sarcastically, motioning rather dramatically as he did so. "Those damn grubs could be surrounding us right now and we wouldn't even know it!"

"Shut up, Baird. We're safe for now but not too long. We need to keep moving, regroup with Alpha squad." Marcus thought out loud, hearing Carmine make some sort of noise underneath his helmet.

"But what about Alura, Sarge? Is she okay?" Carmine asked. Judging by his voice, Carmine just noticed Cole was carrying the woman.

"Aawww what's the matter? The wittle baby worried about his girlfwiend?" Baird asked, his voice laced with venom, Carmine emitting an offended 'Hey!' in response.

"Shut up, Baird." Marcus grumbled, studying the woman in Cole's arms, as if debating what to do with her.

"We can't just leave her, Marcus." Dom added softly, his eyes quickly glancing around for any sign of enemy contact.

"She needs help, Marcus. My Mama always taught me to be kind to the ladies." Cole commented, feeling slightly bad for the woman. He wasn't even sure if his mother was alive. At times Cole found himself wondering what his mother would think of him now.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Baird roared, the others ignoring him as Carmine pipped up.

"Sarge, um, she told me she has a husband who is a Gear. She said his name was...Cross. Something Cross..." Carmine mumbled, trying to remember the man's full name.

"Cross? Name sounds familiar..." Dom muttered, trying to place a face to the name. "What else did she tell you, Carmine?"

"Nothing else really. She was too out of it to get any straight answers." Carmine lied, feeling bad about lying to his friend but felt like he shouldn't betray Alura's trust by telling them about her past.

"Wait a minute, wasn't Cross that asshole we saw back in the Lightmas Bombing? The one that almost got us all killed?" Baird asked.

"That asshole is still alive? Man, I thought his ass got burned to charcoal when the bombing went off." Cole snarled slightly.

"Ummm...you know this guy?" Carmine asked, feeling rather left out. "What did he do?"

"Something that nearly got us all killed." Marcus answered, Carmine's shoulders slumping at being left in the dark.

"Oh..." Carmine responded, Dom scratching the back of his head.

"Damn. I feel even more sorry for this girl. Jediah was a real dick." Dom commented, Cole making a slight noise as the woman started to stir.

"Set her down, Cole. We don't need her screaming her head off when she wakes up." Marcus ordered, Cole setting the woman down before backing off.

Alura stirred, her eyes fluttering before fully snapping open, the woman suddenly alert.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. We're not gonna hurt you." Dom reassured softly, Alura narrowing her eyes as she glanced nervously at each one. Her eyes shone with mistrust, anger and disgust telling them to keep their distance. But they knew she wouldn't-couldn't do anything. The somewhat hard and cold outer shell was only a defense, a ruse for how terrified she really was. A survival mechanism.

"What do you want with me?" Alura forced out, her heart hammering in her chest as she tried to force her voice into sounding stern, the natural softness preventing her facade.

"We want to help. We can get to you safety." Dom continued, Alura not budging, her mouth suddenly dry as her eyes glanced briefly at the flowing stream.

"You lie."

"I lie? Why would I lie?"

"You'll make me go back. Go back to them. Go back to _him._" Alura hissed slightly, Dom glancing at Marcus.

"Do you mean Jediah? Jediah Cross?" Dom asked, Alura's eyes going wide with shock and fear.

This wasn't good. She felt like running. Felt like hiding. If they knew Jediah they would take her back to him. If she went back to Jediah he'd do nothing but abuse her again. She barely escaped last time with her life. She didn't want to go through that again. No pain. No fear. She just wanted to be left alone. To see her daughter again and hold her baby and kiss her. To tell her that Mommy is sorry and that Mommy was a bad mommy because Mommy couldn't keep her baby safe. She just wanted to tell her daughter that Mommy loves her. And always will.

Tears formed in Alura's eyes as the liquid began to fall down her dirty cheeks. She couldn't help it. She always became emotional when she thought of her baby. Her baby that was her only responsibility and that failed in the end.

"Lets go, guys. We'll follow the river from here on. Hopefully it'll take up to some abandoned settlements along the way-get some supplies. Get the girl, Carmine." Marcus ordered softly. He wasn't entirely sure why the woman was crying, but understood she's been through hell. Under normal circumstances he may have given her time to a hold of herself but no was no time to have an emotional breakdown. The safety of his squad was more important than the emotion of a stranded. Hell, he was even wondering why he was allowing the woman to travel with them when she would most likely only slow them down. Still, he's seen the woman bring something out in the Rook he's never seen in the youngest Carmine before. Carmine wasn't the kind of kid that would go against orders. This stranded-Alura-she made Carmine feel something that gave the kid such a strong sense of...morality? Justice? Marcus wasn't sure. All he knew was that she affected his soldier. In a way, Marcus was beginning to see himself in the Rook.

"Alura? Alura, it's me. Benjamin." Carmine spoke softly, slowly approaching Alura as she silently cried to herself.

"Alura, we have to go. It's not safe here anymore." Carmine continued, Alura looking up at him as her blue eyes sparkled with the added fluid.

"Nowhere is safe. They just...pop up. And destroy. Kill. Shatter everything. Like the Wrath of God..." Alura muttered, rambling in her troubled state, flinching as Carmine slowly held out his hand only to pull it back upon seeing her reaction.

"Sorry." Carmine apologized softly, before trying again, Alura looking at the hand, almost curiously.

Carmine waited for several seconds, his squad moving farther away as Alura hesitantly put her held up her smaller hand, her fingers flinching as they gently touched Carmine's gloved fingers.

Carmine gently wrapped his fingers around her smaller ones, her hand shaking as he carefully pulled her to her feet, Alura wobbling slightly as she found her balance.

"You ready? Let's go." Carmine spoke gently, leading Alura to catch up with the rest of Delta.

Carmine released his grip, staying slightly back from the group to make sure Alura didn't fall too far behind. He saw Marcus glance back every once in awhile to check up on the pair. Alura was having some trouble, but she could make it. He could tell the youngest Carmine was already making sure she would be fine. She wouldn't dare approach any member of Delta but the Rook. Even then, the closest Alura ever seemed to let him get to her was about three feet. Only if she needed physical help would she allow him closer.

"Ben?"

"Hhmmmm?" Carmine turned his head towards Alura, slightly shocked that she even said anything.

"Can you...promise me something?" Alura asked. It seemed that whatever emotional stress she had was gone. She seemed more...rational, to say the least.

"Of course! What is it?" Carmine asked, perhaps a little too happy to answer her question. Still, he liked helping others.

"Please...don't take me back to Jediah. Please."

"I...of course, Alura. I promise." Carmine replied, no regretting being so quick to answer her question. He didn't know who this Cross guy was but he sounded like an ass. And he could tell by Alura's voice that she was terrified of the man. His heart hurt at knowing he very well may not be able to keep his promise. He wasn't calling the shots.

"Oh, you will? Thank you! Thank you so much!" Alura replied, sighing breathlessly in relief, the woman breaking into a large smile. She truly seemed happy. Carmine's heart hurt even worse as he saw the sparkle in Alura's eyes. In her eyes, Benjamin was like a saint. He could do no wrong. But the young soldier was far from perfect.


	5. Chapter 5

To put it bluntly I'm not sure if Alura should die or not. Therefore, I shall leave the choice up to the readers if you do want her to live or die. It don't really matter to me.

* * *

"Keep that fire low. We don't want to be spotted." Marcus ordered gently, the fire making soft popping noises as the moon shone high in the night sky, the nocturnal inhabitants calling to one another in the darkness.

"It's so peaceful out here. It feels like we're not even in a war." Dom commented, admiring the beauty of the stars, finding familiar constellations in the sky. "I would always stargaze with the family. They loved it."

"Yeah? Well they're all probably lookin' back down at you." Cole replied, trying to cheer his friend up and he grinned largely, Dom smiling back.

"Heh. You're probably right, Cole Train. I never thought of it like that." Dom spoke, looking back up the stars.

Alura sat closest to the small flame, trying to warm herself up as she stared at the fire before being forced to look away, blinking as the light hurt her eyes. Alura visibly jumped at noticing a man move towards her.

"Hey, calm down! Sheesh, I thought you would want some company. You look lonely." Carmine commented, smiling underneath his helmet at seeing Alura relax slightly as she turned her attention back to the fire.

"You haven't seen fire in a long time, have you?" Carmine asked, Alura shaking her head.

"No. Everything looks so different. I forgot how colorful everything is." Alura replied, looking away from the fire once more. "It hurts my eyes."

"Then don't look straight at the fire." Carmine replied, laughing softly. "I love fire. I used to be a little fire bug as a kid. I still am, practically. The only difference is I like to make a grub BBQ." Carmine half joked, happy as Alura smiled at his attempt.

"I always loved fire as a little girl. My father, he...he would always tell scary stories. He would laugh because I would always scare so easily, but I loved it. It felt like fire protected me. I still get that feeling of protection, like nothing can go wrong. Kind of silly, I think." Alura admitted, slightly embarrassed at such a childish feeling. She didn't know why she was opening up. But Carmine had showed her nothing but kindness.

"Nah, it's not silly at all. At least I don't think it is. Everyone has something different that makes them feel safe." Carmine replied, pausing as Alura remained quiet.

"Do you remember much of your pa? Before E-Day, I mean?"

"Some. Mainly fond memories. My dad was a member of the COG but retired after the Pendulum Wars. He wanted to stay with us-my sister and I. He was relieved because the war couldn't take him away from us."

"So you had no one else?"

"No...no, I don't think so. My sister and I-we would take care of each other. I don't know what happened to our mom. She just wasn't there." Alura slightly shrugged her shoulders, falling into deep thought.

"It's okay, Alura. You don't have to tell me anything else. I understand that it's painful." Carmine spoke softly, Alura shaking her head.

"Thank you, Ben, but...that's not it. I just...can't remember my sister's name." Alura spoke, trying to remember but sighed, shaking her head.

"Damn. How long were you even in that cell?" Carmine asked, Alura staring at the soldier, as if studying the soft glow emitted from his helmet.

"I don't know." Alura replied simply, Carmine dropping the subject as Alura began to yawn.

"Hahah! Awwww, look Marcus, Carmine is trying his luck with the lady!" Cole laughed rather loudly, Baird grumbling in annoyance as he was awoken from his light sleep. "Man, he'll never get the ladies like the Cole Train can."

"What? All fast, cheap and easy?" Baird snapped slightly, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Hey! The ladies love to ride this train from station to station. You're just jealous you can't get any, Baby Baird." Cole laughed, Marcus smirking as Dom chuckled.

"That was low, Cole Train." Dom added, still quieting his laughter as Baird turned red with anger, muttering curses under his breath as he tried to get back to sleep. It was a waste of time to argue with them.

"Hahah, hey, you know how this train rolls!" Cole laughed, reaching into his small satchel, the smell of cooked meat filling the air as he bit into a strip of jerky.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where the hell'd you get that? You're holding out on us, you bastard!" Baird yelled, awake at the smell of food, his mouth watering.

"Calm down, Baby! The Cole Train is more than willing to share." Cole spoke, passing his bag of jerky to Baird, Baird taking a strip before throwing it to Marcus.

Marcus caught the bag, digging out a beef strip before tossing it to Dom.

"Oh, hell yeah! This is what I'm talking about." Dom cheered, chewing on the meat as he looked toward the campfire, noticing Alura fighting to stay awake as she yawned tiredly, Carmine's snores seeming to echo through the night air softly, the young soldier cradling his lancer as if it were a stuffed bear.

Dom got up from his sitting position against a tree, walking carefully towards the pair as to not frighten the stranded.

"Hey." Dom spoke gently, Alura turning her tired gaze towards Dom, the woman instinctively moving away an inch or two, on alert.

"Hey, it's alright. I just thought you wanted some food. Want some jerky? It's awesome." Dom asked, holding out the bag as Alura stared at the bag, her mouth watering as she tore her eyes away from the meat and towards Dom before hesitantly reaching in the bog and grabbing a piece.

"Thanks." Alura muttered softly, proud of herself for remembering basic signs of gratitude. Unless she said them before? If she did Alura didn't remember in her tired state.

Dom smiled at the woman, his teeth seemingly bright as Alura chewed on the jerky, too tired to actually eat it as she savored the taste.

"No problem. I'm Dom by the way." Dom spoke, holding out his hand before feeling himself suddenly go cold. He wasn't sure how the woman would react. Damn.

Alura twitched slightly, but beyond that made no other movement to signal her distress. Instead, the woman stared blankly at Dom's larger hand, as if confused on what to do with it. At this point, Dom wasn't sure if she was just out of it from being exhausted, or if being stuck in an underground cell for God knows how long damaged her social skills. Probably both.

"Oh...I'm Alura." Alura responded, her face flushing with embarrassment as she brought her smaller hand into Dom's. Dom smiled as he gently wrapped his larger fingers around hers, surprised that she didn't make any form of distress. He could tell she was still uncomfortable with the small touches, but she was undoubtedly getting better.

"Ohhhh...is that bacon?" Carmine asked, the smell of food waking him up. "Ohh, gross! I drooled all over the inside of my helmet!" Carmine cried in dismay, Marcus shaking his head, Cole laughing as Dom stared almost blankly at the rook.

"Uhhhh...that's cool, Carmine." Dom commented, holding out the bag, Carmine making a strange noise under his helmet as he took the bag.

"You are God, bro!" Carmine cheered, Marcus growling at the young soldier for being so loud. "Oh, sorry, Sarge."

"Just get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Marcus sighed, getting into a comfortable position to watch the flames die out on the small fire.


	6. Chapter 6

**Uggh, this chapter took so long! Anyway, here it is at last for all you readers! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The squad marched along the river in the same order they did yesterday, some members talking quietly to each other to break the boredom.

Marcus grumbled to himself as he heard one constant voice from the squad. Carmine seemed to talk about anything and everything with Alura, Alura remaining quiet, not seeming to mind at all that Carmine's occupation of being the youngest sibling was beginning to show. It was a nice change from not talking to someone in a dark underground cell.

Carmine paused in his walking (and mid-sentence) as he heard a snapping noise, Alura pausing as she looked down at her extremely worn shoes, moving her foot to see that she had stepped on an old photo.

Alura picked up the photo, studying it, her eyes going wide as she recognized Dom in the photo. He looked handsome and was with an equally attractive woman. It looked like the photo was taken before E-Day. They looked happy too. They had to be husband and wife.

Alura found herself wondering if the couple ever had any children. She hated to admit it, but she felt almost jealous at the couple seeming so happy.

"What'cha' looking at?" Carmine asked, leaning closer as Alura gave him the picture for a better view, Carmine emitting a soft 'oh!' in surprise before whistling softly.

"Ohh, she's pretty. Dom really knows how to pick 'em, huh?" Carmine asked, Alura shaking her head in agreement.

"Hey, Do-whoa!" Carmine exclaimed as the ground suddenly shook, Carmine nearly losing his balance only to steady himself, grabbing Alura's arm to prevent her from falling.

"Are you alright?!" Carmine asked, hearing Marcus scream "Enemy contact!" as the small river bank erupted in gun fire, the locusts opening fire from the opposite side of the bank.

"Yes!" Alura shouted, Carmine not even hearing her voice over the gunfire, but guessed she was okay.

"Stay here!" Carmine ordered, motioning with his finger to stay here, the sounds hurting Alura's ears as she covered them. She had no idea what her friend was saying, but knew he wanted her to stay put.

Nodding, Alura stayed in the area, hiding among the foliaged bank as she pressed her body against the bank.

"Looks like the bum's smell gave away our position to these assholes!" Baird complained, opening fire as he took down a locust only to have another take its place.

"Hahahaha! Oh, c'mon, baby! I say the more the merrier to this party!" Cole cheered, more than happy to send a few grubs to the back to their little grub hole.

"Concentrate fire on that E-Hole!" Marcus ordered, looking quickly at each member of his squad. Cole and Baird were doing okay and were using some of the rocks for cover. Dom was right next to Marcus, now where was the Rook?

"Frag out!" Cole cried as he threw the grenade over the river's slope and into the forest, the grenade rolling into the grub hole before exploding as the hole closed in on itself.

"Hahaha! The Cole Train's still got it, baby!"

"How you holding up, Carmine?" Marcus asked, noticing the young gear was out of cover, firing and standing directly in front of Alura to intercept any bullet that would otherwise hit her.

"I'm okay, Sarge!" Carmine replied, Marcus feeling his anger rise at his private's stupidity.

"What the fuck are you doing, Carmine?! Get into fucking cover!" Marcus roared, Carmine turning to say something only to have the ground shake again as a second emergence hole opened up in the ground, locusts immediately opening fire as Carmine shrieked in pain, Carmine being knocked off his feet just inches from Alura.

"I'M HIT!" Carmine screamed shrilly, Alura screaming in terror as Carmine completely forgot about his lance and instinctively put pressure on his wounded shoulder, the blood seeping through his gloved fingers and running into the gently flowing stream.

"Carmine! Ahhh, SHIT!" Marcus cursed, trying to reach his fallen teammate but was pinned down by the advancing locusts. There was just too many of them.

"We gotta get to Carmine or he's gonna bleed out, Marcus!" Dom called in worry upon seeing the blood flow rapidly from the private. He was obviously hit more than once.

"S-Sarge?...huhhhh….Sarge! Help, Sarge…." Carmine pleaded, feeling his abdomen convulse and twist in pain as a bullet lodged itself inside his body, his shoulder screaming in pain as a bullet made its home in his muscle tissue as well.

Alura whimpered as the ground exploded around her from unsuccessful hits. She was terrified to go anywhere without getting hit, but knew she had too. Alura looked at Carmine, seeing the young man struggle to breathe through the pain, his breath fast and shallow as his body started to go into shock.

"S-Sarge? H-h-help….me! Pl-ease!" Carmine breathed, knowing his Sarge would never be able to reach him. Carmine began to pray silently to himself. He didn't want to die. He just wanted to be home and be with his ma, with Clay, and Daniel. He wasn't ready to go yet, not without telling his family he loved them one last time. Only then could he go see Anthony again.

Alura flinched as she tried to reach her friend, bullets lodging into the ground. She couldn't let Ben die. She just couldn't. Even if it meant getting shot and killed herself Alura would at least try.

Closing her eyes, Alura forced herself to go to her fallen friend, her brain screaming to get into cover and save herself while her heart said help. She owed this man more than her life for saving hers.

"Hang on, Ben! I…I can help!" Alura stated, her voice shaky and laced in fear as she gently moved his hand away from his shoulder, using her smaller hands to apply more pressure, his block loosening her hold as she hands slipped on the armor.

"Oh, hang on, hang on, Ben!" Alura muttered, quickly taking the pressure off as she ripped part of her buttoned up white shirt off, the fabric making a hissing noise in protest. Alura took the normally white cloth and moved her hand under Carmine's armor, feeling a muscle shirt underneath as she followed the dampness and stuffed the cloth on the bullet wound. She didn't dare let the pressure fail on the wound. If she did the young soldier could very well bleed out.

"A…Alura?" Ben asked, Alura alarmed as it sounded as if he was choking on his own blood, Alura gasping upon realizing blood was seeping from underneath Carmine's helmet and running down his neck. He had to have another would that she wasn't aware of.

"Where else, Ben?" Alura asked, instinctively clutching his body as a stray bullet whizzed past her head. Looking at the locusts, there seemed to be more of them now than ever. Delta has tried to move towards the duo, but the overwhelming locust horde was keeping them away from the pair.

"St…stomach…." Carmine forced out, Alura looking towards his abdomen to see that a bullet had pierced his armor, blood flowing slowly out of the wound.

Carmine put his hand on his shoulder again, trying to stop himself from bleeding out as he began to feel light headed. He could feel the blood in his armor, the blood coating his chest and abdomen as his chest pushed up and down in struggled breathes.

"I….I-I don't know what to do, Ben. I don't know what to do!" Alura whispered softly, feeling tears swell up in her eyes. She didn't feel like crying, but she had no idea to save him. There was no way she could get his armor off in time. And if she took and armor off he would be vulnerable to being shot.

Carmine looked off to the side, ignoring the sounds of war as he looked at the flowing river, the river seemingly untouched by war. Carmine would have screamed had he had the strength to as a large drone rounded the corner. Carmine tried to move, to do anything to try to get Alura to see the danger, the woman too engrossed in tending to the private to notice the approaching threat. Carmine slowly reached towards his pistol, Alura looked at Carmine with horror as he managed to pull the pistol out of its holster, trying to aim as he could barely lift his arm.

"Ben? Wha-what are you?" Alura asked, hearing the roar of a drone behind her as the pistol went off, Alura shrieking as the drone grunted in pain, smacking Alura with its shotgun as Alura briefly fell with a thud.

The drone laughed sadistically, deep crimson blood staining its snow touched skin as it looked at the downed soldier, its sharp, yellow teeth reflecting off Carmine's helmet lens. Carmine tried to aim again, his arm shaky. He was no longer worried about bleeding to death. He just knew this locust was a threat to his friends.

Carmine gasped, unable to scream in pain as the drone kicked his arm, the pistol flying off to the side.

Alura shook her head from the attack, blood running down her forehead, her eyes going wide at seeing the drone stand over Carmine.

Alura desperately looked towards Marcus, seeing Carmine's squad mates struggling to fight as well. It looked like Cole had been shot in the arm, and was trying to fight while using his good arm.

Seeing the forgotten pistol lying on the ground, Alura picked it up, almost awkwardly as the handgun seemed too large for her small hands. She didn't even know how to properly work one. All she knew was that you pulled the trigger to shoot.

Alura pointed the gun at the drone, the locust laughing as it aimed the barrel of its shotgun at the youngest Carmine, Carmine raising his head weakly. If he was going to die, he was at least going to die looking at his enemy in their fugly face and die like a man.

Alura's breath shook as she tried to hold her breath, aiming at the drone as she closed her eyes and fired. The recoil and noise started Alura, but she heard the drone cry in pain as the bullet hit its shoulder.

The drone turned toward Alura, Alura panicking as she struggling to inch backwards, not bothering to aim her pistol as she fired in blind terror until she emptied the clip, the desperate sound of the empty clip reaching her ears and she pulled the trigger to get the weapon to work. Most of the shots went wide, but one or two bullets managed to strike the drone in the chest as it fell to its knees, blood running out of its wounds and open mouth as its deep, nasally breathing slowed. Despite dying, the drone struggled to crawl towards Alura, the monster fully intent on killing the woman as it roughly grabbed her ankle, Alura screaming as she kicked the drone, who refused to let go.

A bullet suddenly went through the drone's skull, more gunfire erupting in the battle. But this time the shots were coming from Delta's forested side, just above the small stream. There must have been a lot of them, because Delta immediately stopped firing in confusion, the locusts falling one after the other as they finally retreated.

"Carmine!" Marcus cried, running towards his squad member only to have a bullet fly into the dirt just inches from his feet.

"Hold it! Don't take another step closer!" A voice called, Marcus cursing as he looked up to see….a child. A child that had a lancer.

"Hahahahaha! Look at 'im, Marcus! Isn't he cute? Hahaha! A little kid holding a big gun!" Cole exclaimed, the young boy obviously not liking being called cute in the slightest. "Hey, little ma-OW!" Cole cried as the boy fired another warning shot, the bullet just scraping Cole's skin.

Delta aimed at the child, ready to fight only to find smaller children with an arsenal of weapons appear out of the trees and bushes. There had to be around ten, maybe more if some were still hidden.

"Your man needs help, right?" The same boy asked, each child aimed at a different adult.

"What's going on here? Where are your parents?!" Marcus asked, a majority of the children focusing their sites on the squad leader.

"You didn't answer me question." The boy, who Marcus presumed to be their leader hissed. These were no normal children. Probably stranded.

"Please! He needs help!" Alura managed, Baird looking over at the woman, as if he was about to smack her.

"Hey! _You_ have no say in this, bitch!" Baird hissed, pointing a finger at Alura.

"He's _dying_!" Alura countered, Baird scoffing at this.

"So? You honestly think I care if that little shit dies? He can-" Baird was cut off as Alura smacked him so hard spit flew out of his mouth, blood running down the side of his cheek from Alura's nails.

"You _fucking bitch_!" Baird screamed, bringing his fist back to punch the stranded whore right in her face but was held back by Dom.

"Enough!" Dom cried, cursing as Baird flailed about like a child with a temper tantrum before calming down, pushing Dom away from him.

"Don't you ever-_ever_-let that _bitch_ come _anywhere _near me again." Baird hissed darkly, Alura not even flinching as they glared at each other.

"There's your answer." Marcus growled, the children looking at each other before lowering their weapons.

"Come with us. The forest isn't as safe as it used to be." The leader called, Marcus grunting as he gently picked up the fallen Carmine, his breathing slow and shallow.

"Hang on, Carmine. You're gonna make it." Marcus replied softly, the squad following Marcus as he followed the children, the kids eyeing the adults with suspicion.

* * *

**I know this story doesn't follow the Gears of War story line too well but I'd rather make up my own story in the Gears Universe cause I'm not very good at copying events. So at this point I'm just making it up as I go. I am extremely sure character death will be later chapters.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy!**

* * *

The group of armed children led Delta deeper into the forest, the group leading them into a underground cave. Water was running into the mouth, making the descent slick as the cave went deeper underground. The members of Delta knew that this certain cave wasn't naturally made. The walls were too smooth and floor too flat.

"Wait here." A child spoke, disappearing into the darkness of the cave as several of the children stared at the adults with curiosity.

"What's taking so long?" Alura asked, worried as she glanced at Carmine in Marcus' arms. The sound of blood dripping onto the stone floor echoed and his gasps and wheezes for breath amplified by the open cavities.

"He's getting Harvey." A child answered, Marcus looking at the young boy. Getting a better look at the children, they all had to be at least twelve to sixteen. Some looked younger.

"Who's Harvey?" Marcus asked, multiple footsteps echoing from the cave's depths as older looking boys emerged out of the darkness.

"I am." Harvey answered, his voice unwavering as he moved with pride in each step. Harvey had to be at least seventeen, his body more developed, his hair short with signs of beginning stubble, his eyes cold.

"You their leader?" Marcus asked, Harvey nodding in response.

"That I am. I was informed you have a downed man. How is he?" Harvey asked, Marcus remained quiet as he looked down at the Rook for a brief second before looking at the young man.

"He's slipping." Marcus spoke lowly, Alura's heart skipping a beat in fear. He couldn't die! Ben couldn't die, she should die! It wasn't fair! Ben had no reason to die!

"Rother." Harvey spoke, an equally tall boy snapping his head in Harvey's direction at the mention of his name. The young man looked to be about sixteen or seventeen with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He also had a pair of glasses.

"Got it." Rother responded, pushing a stretcher towards Marcus as he laid Carmine down on it, the young Gear groaning in pain as he was rushed deeper into the cave.

"Where are you taking Carmine?" Dom asked, not entirely sure about this place. They were only kids. What could they do that a COG medic couldn't?

"To our hospital wing. He's in good hands with Rother." Harvey responded, Marcus narrowing his eyes.

"A kid can handle that kind of injuries? He should have people with more experience help him." Marcus growled, not trusting the competence of some stranded kid as he took a step forward, only to have several weapons trained on him.

"If you want to go deeper into the cave I'm afraid you'll have to give us all your weapons." Harvey replied, smirking slightly.

"Hey, who are you to tell us what to do you little shit!?" Baird hissed. "I swear, Marcus, these stranded brats are setting us up! I can smell it!"

"We don't know you. Why would we let armed strangers into the very heart of our home?" Harvey countered, Marcus growling.

"Let us see Carmine."

"Not without handing over your weapons. It would be so unfortunate if I let you in with weapons and something happened. What if your man would get caught in the crossfire? Or worse?" Harvey asked, smirking as Marcus grunted, enraged by the hidden threat.

"Fine, you spoiled brat, we'll give you our weapons. But if anything-and I mean anything happens to Carmine I'll have your crying for your god damn mother." Marcus hissed darkly, Harvey's eyes showing a brief hint of fear. He could tell that this man would hold true to his word.

"He isn't one of us." Harvey hissed, motioning for several boys to take their weapons.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doin'?!" Baird yelled, the children taking their weapons, Marcus telling Baird to shut up once again as the other members complied.

"The woman too." Harvey ordered, Alura not noticing Carmine's handgun was still in her hand. She had been unconsciously holding it in a death grip. Looking at the weapon, Alura hesitantly gave it to the open hand of a boy.

"Great. Guess what's up ahead, Marcus? They're gonna jump us, that's what!" Baird shot out, Cole laughing.

"So? Did you see the size of these kids, Baird? We'll just punt their little asses right outta this cave!"

As the squad followed Harvey deeper into the cave, they could hear the laughter of children bouncing off the walls.

Rounding the corner, the squad was greeted by a large number of children. They were all younger than the kid soldiers, ranging anywhere from three to eleven.

"You're...all children..." Alura spoke, looking at the children from afar. She could swear some seemed familiar. But from where she couldn't remember.

"Guns scare them. That's why we don't let anyone into this part of the cave with firearms." Harvey explained, Dom and Cole looking on almost sadly.

"Are they all orphans?" Dom asked, Harvey nodding.

"Yeah. We all are. I'm one of the oldest here." Harvey explained, a young boy approaching them almost cautiously. He wasn't used to seeing such large people and the change was scary.

"Hey, Lions! What's up, buddy?" Harvey asked, Lions smiling with a big grin, several of his teeth missing. He looked about five years of age.

"I heard you saw the snowmen, Hawvey! Is it true? Did you see the snowmen?" Lions asked, his eyes wide with excitement and fear. The adults looked at the child almost strangely.

"No, Lions. I didn't see any snowmen today. Why? Are you scared of them?"

"Uh huh. Mikey says they'll come out of the walls and eat me." Lions confessed, Harvey shaking his head.

"Don't listen to Mikey, Lions. The snowmen aren't going to come out of the walls. It's solid rock. And they don't eat good kids. They eat bad kids." Harvey explained, Lions eyes going wide with terror, tears welling up in his eyes.

"But I'm a good boy, Hawvey! I am!" Lions protested, Harvey messing Lions' hair as he laughed slightly.

"Then don't worry about it, buddy. Just don't listen to Mikey, he doesn't know what he's talking about." Harvey spoke, Lions breaking into a smile.

"Okay!" Lions then looked up at the adults, his fear gone. "Hello!"

"Hey, little man! What's up?" Dom asked, kneeling down to the boy's eye level. "I'm Dom!"

"I'm Lions! I like to play ball!" Lions stated, Cole smiling at that.

"You like to play ball too? So do I!" Cole exclaimed, Lions' eyes shining suddenly.

"I can throw the ball really far! Do you want to play?" Lions asked, looking at each of the adults, hoping for an answer.

"Sorry, Lions, but they are busy at the moment. They'll play with you later okay?" Harvey answered for them, Lions looking crestfallen as he walked away, looking for someone else to play with him

"Snowmen?" Baird asked.

"It's what we call the locusts. At least around the kids here. It makes them sound less scary." Harvey answered, Marcus grunting in response.

Harvey led them to the 'hospital' which was a smaller section of the cave with makeshift wooden walls for privacy.

"How is he?" Harvey asked, Rother leaning over Carmine, his upper armor and muscle shirt removed, revealing his pale skin stained red with blood, a bloodied cloth on the table. Alura recognized it as her torn shirt.

"Stable. I managed to get the bullet out of his shoulder." Rother stated, pointing to a bloodied pan containing a bullet. "But..."

"But what?" Marcus asked, Rother looking back and forth from them, his lips pierced.

"The bullet in his stomach never went through. That bullet is the more lethal and if I pull it out I could damage his organs in doing so. He...also needs blood. He's lost too much already. If I do anything else now he might go into shock again and bleed out." Rother explained, the group falling silent. "Does anyone know his blood type?"

"A." Marcus stated, remembering Carmine's bloodtype on his profile.

"A? Hmmm...are any of you A or O?" Rother asked, Marcus' eyes falling on Baird.

"Baird."

"What? Oh, ohhhh, no! I am not giving my blood just so some guying idiot might survive! D-Do you know how unsanitary this is? Look at this place!" Baird countered, flailing his arms dramatically.

"What? Awww, Baird, that's cold!" Cole commented, frowning.

"C'mon, man, Carmine would do it for you." Dom urged, Baird's mouth agape like he had just been slapped.

"So now I'm the bad guy?" Baird asked, Marcus staring at Baird intently.

"Baird, I made a promise to Carmine. He's not fucking dying! Just do it." Marcus growled lowly, Baird sneering at the Delta Commander in disgust.

"Fuckin' asshole." Baird muttered.

"You got your donor. Need any help?" Marcus asked, Rother shaking his head.

"I got this. Thanks though."

"Let's go Delta." Marcus ordered, Dom and Cole following as Harvey stood for several seconds before following the squad out.

"Oh, oh, that's fine. Just leave me here. Yeah, I'll just stay here until I need blood drained from me." Baird commented sarcastically.

Alura approached Carmine, sighing sadly as she looked at the wound on his arm, looking around at she saw some clean gauze.

"You did a good job pluggin' up that wound." Rother commented, Alura shocked slightly as her head snapped up. Wordlessly, Rother nodded his head toward her town undershirt, Alura looking down to see her slightly exposed stomach.

"Oh. Thank you. I...I didn't know what else to use." Alura responded, clearing her throat as her face flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Do you...do you, umm...get a lot of...injuries around here?" Alura asked, trying to change the topic to something else.

"Mainly scrapes and small cuts with the younger kids. With the older kids though it could be anything a COG soldier could get. We try to avoid any kind of major injuries whenever possible. The forest is too dangerous with the locust around so we don't go very far from home." Rother answered, watching as Alura began to bandage Carmine's arm.

"Did anyone ever get...badly hurt?" Alura asked, Rother failing to answer for several seconds causing the woman to look at him quizzically with her blue eyes.

"Of course." Rother replied after several seconds, his voice soft. "But I tried, ya know? We've lost a few to infections, flues, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, burn wounds. They come to me and...they expect me to help them-and I do try. It's just that...well, sometimes they are just too far gone. It's not like I have the best equipment either, I mean there's no way to sanitize the equipment properly."

"Oh." Alura replied softly, her hand resting almost unconsciously on Carmine's arm, her eyes falling on his chest slowly rising up and down. "I understand."

"Ok, enough of these hospital terrors! I'm outta here!" Baird cried, leaving. He sure as hell didn't want to die because of infected surgical equipment.

Alura began to run her small hand up and down Carmine's rather muscular arm, her eyes trailing down his body. He wasn't as heavily built as the men that had raped her. His size didn't scare her as much as the other men. Still, she felt a dull sense of fear rise in her gut upon making physical contact with the youngest brother's skin. She didn't know what this feeling was. Maybe it was a new form of fear? She had been fearful almost all her life so what did she know about any other emotions beside fear? Besides being used?

Alura was confused. It didn't feel like fear. But it must be fear. What else could it be? The only other feeling she felt as she gently trailed his arm with the very tips of her fingers was warmth. Ben was warm. It was so nice to finally feel something soft and warm and not hard and cold.

Rother stared at the woman, studying her.

"I remember you." Rother whispered, Alura breaking out of her inner tance as she looked at the young man, confused.

"Pardon?"

"You were at the village. Before the attack. Yes, I remember you." Rother nodded his head, Alura trying to remember anything before the darkness. She didn't remember much. Most of her memory consisted of being in a breeding facility, Jediah, and her daughter. And the darkness. The darkness that was silent, hard and cold.

Alura shook her head. She couldn't even remember if her daughter was still alive when she came to the village. Why did she even go to the village in the first place? Was she running from something? Or looking for something? She didn't know.

"I...don't remember." Alura answered, shaking her head.

"Do you remember a man named Carl Rother? That was my father! He was the doctor and-and I would help him with the people! I'm Tom!" Rother exclaimed, almost excitedly.

Alura tried to remember. She remember screaming, and blood. And the locusts attacking. She remembered their horrible stench. But in the end, she smelled like them. She heard their odd tongue and hiss in the darkness.

"My father...he told me to run. So I did. Me and a few other kids. Most of us are from the village, but others we found along the way. Last I saw my father...he went underground."

Alura thought back to the time before the silent darkness. In the past, but not too far in the past with the screams and blood. In the darkness, with the smell and grumbles of empty stomachs. Yes, she remembered!

"I remember...there was a man. Blond hair...blue eyes..."

"What happened?" Rother asked.

"We were...hungry, starving. Sick. They wouldn't give us food. So we starved. And slept. Hoping it was all a dream. Some...they never woke up. It seemed like a blessing to just...go to sleep and never wake up. To wait to die. Some started eating the bodies, and those that didn't...died." Alura answered, her voice quivering, faltering.

"But you wanted to die." Rother stated, Alura sniffing, scratching  
her neck.

"I did. And I don't know...know why I did such horrible things. I never wanted to."

"Were you the only one that...got out?" Rother asked, Alura nodding as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry for what you went through. I can't imagine such terrors." Rother added, clearing his throat as he adjusted his glasses, his eyes watering slightly.

"Neither can I." Alura stated softly, looking down at Carmine as a tear fell onto the floor, Alura licking her lip.

"I'm sorry, Rother."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I would like to thank all my readering and those who reviewed! Please review and give me your imput on this story!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, so poor Ben seems to be in a pretty tough pickle. Will he escape this story alive or will he fall victim to the plot? Please enjoy!**

* * *

"IV." Rother ordered, Alura carrying the bag of fluids as Rother took the needle and jabbed it into Carmine's arm.

Moving swiftly, Rother placed a stethoscope on Carmine's chest, listening to the weakened beating of his heart.

"We have to work fast." Rother stated, taking the stethoscope off as he pointed towards Baird. "You, I'll need you soon so get ready." Rother ordered, Baird groaning as Dom tightly wrapped cloth around his arm, Baird's veins beginning to pop out.

"Anything we can do?" Marcus asked softly, Rother nodding.

"I need both of you to hold him down. There's a lot of nerve bundles in there so he cannot move under any circumstances lest I tear an artery. I hope you know what that means." Rother explained, Marcus piercing his lips together as he nodded, Cole looking on with worry.

"But you can save him, right?" Cole asked, Rother sighing in response.

"We'll see." Rother answered, grabbing a pair of medical tweezers as he looked at Cole and Marcus, the pair each grabbing an arm.

"S...Sarge?" Carmine asked, groaning in pain and confusion.

"I'm here, Carmine. Dom, hold down his legs. We don't need him kicking anyone." Marcus ordered, Dom holding down his legs.

"Ow! Could you be any rougher with that damn thing?" Baird snapped, Alura shrugging her shoulders as she chose to ignore his comment. It wasn't her fault he didn't like needles. "Stupid bitch. I bet this isn't properly sanitized. If I die I'm coming back to haunt your asses."

"Hold on tight." Rother ordered, leaning against the soldier to get a better view of the bullet wound. "Well at least it went in a straight path..." Rother muttered, beginning to dig the tweezers into the open flesh as Carmine began to whimper and squirm, the private suddenly starting to scream in pain.

Alura covered her ears at the horrifying scream, Carmine struggling to kick and buck to get away but was held down by his squad mates.

"Keep him still, damn it!" Rother hissed, Dom nearly losing his grip on the private's feet as Carmine's back arched in pain, blood flowing freely from the wound as it ran onto the cot.

"Shit...I can't see! I can't see!" Rother cried, unable to see the proper path as blood flooded from the wound.

"Hang on, Carmine! It's almost over!" Marcus tried to encourage, but knew how quickly the situation was getting worse.

"Stop it! Stop it! You're killing him!" Alura cried, unable to block out the screams as her eyes started to tear up, her hands pressing harder against her ears as everything went silent. Closing her eyes, Alura was happy that the horrible screaming has stopped. She didn't like it. It reminded her of the screams. The screams before the darkness. Opening her eyes again, Alura knew something was wrong. Carmine had stopped moving.

"C...Carmine? Carmine! C'mon, wake up, son!" Cole cried in dismay, Dom looking at Marcus with worry.

"Marcus...is he...?"

"He just passed out." Rother answered, Alura sighing relief along with several others. "Give him the blood." Rother ordered, Dom connecting the tubes as Baird's blood began to pump into the fallen Gear's.

"Here it is." Rother exclaimed, pulling out a rather large bullet and put on a metal tray, the bullet stained with blood.

"Is Carmine in the green zone yet?" Dom asked, Rother giving a half nod.

"So long as he has a blood supply and stays free of infection he should be. You're just lucky that bullet didn't hit any organs." Rother replied, cleaning the wound as he did his best to bandage it.

"So what now?" Dom asked.

"No one gets left behind, Dom." Marcus answered, Baird scoffing.

"You'll let us know if anything changes, right?" Cole asked, Rother nodding in response.

"Sure thing."

"Come on, Delta. The Rook needs his rest." Marcus ordered softly, Cole and Dom walking out of the makeshift clinic, Alura hesitating before following.

Marcus waited several seconds before approaching Carmine, looking the private over. The Rook may have been stupid, but he had a good heart and had the will to live.

"You've done good, Ben. You just fight a little bit longer and you'll make it. You've already made your brothers proud." Marcus spoke in praise. He didn't know why, but he felt like speaking to the private now would be a good idea. As if somehow his soldier would hear him.

"Oh, please, don't make me barf!" Baird groaned, Marcus smirking at Rother, the boy returning the smirk as Marcus took his leave.

"Hey, Marcus! Did you see my picture of Maria anywhere?" Dom asked, patting down his pockets almost frantically, Marcus raising an eyebrow.

"You lost it?" Marcus asked, Dom shrugging his shoulders, distressed.

"I don't know, man. Last time I saw it was when we found Alura." Dom answered, a large frown on his face.

"Well, maybe it'll turn up somewhere?" Marcus suggested, Dom sighing before walking off.

"I hope you're right." Dom muttered, walking towards the group of children as their laughter echoed off the walls, nostalgia hitting Dom like a wall as it reminded him of his own children.

Walking passed the group of children, Dom had noticed Cole playing catch with the boy from before. What was his name...Lions! That was it!

"Hey, Dom! Heads up, baby!" Cole laughed, throwing the ball at Dom, who easily caught it.

"Wow! You are really good with playing ball! Do you want to play?" Lions asked with excitement in his eyes, Dom smiling as he laughed.

"Sure thing, little man!" Dom replied, bouncing the ball gently to Lions so the five year old could catch it.

Alura watching from the side as the soldiers played with the children. She felt bad for them. Looking around, she saw most of the older children would sheppard around the younger ones. They were never left unsupervised.

She couldn't help but wonder how many of these children she actually knew. How many of these children knew her daughter-if she was even alive by the time she reached the village. No matter how hard Alura tried, she just couldn't remember why she specifically went there or even remember her daughter's status. It was the unknowing that was getting to her, slowly making her crack.

Alura fought the urge to go back to the small clinic. She knew Ben needed his rest, but she was worried for him. A part of her even felt like his current state was her fault. Some of the children were also terrified because they heard his scream. Poor Lions thought it was the snowmen attacking.

Shaking her head, Alura got up, taking a few steps only to jump as she heard a cry.

"Maaa..." Alura looked down as she stepped on something, realizing it was a seemingly abandoned doll.

"...Maaaa..." The doll cried again as Alura took her foot off the abused doll, bending down as she picked up the dirty toy.

Looking at it, Alura saw that the doll had a light blue dress and small dress shoes, it's body stuffed with seemingly cotton, it's button eyes stitched on and smile sewn on it's face.

"Maaa-Maaa..." The doll cried again as Alura squeezed it, looking at the doll with curiosity. She didn't know why, but the doll reminded her of something, but of what she could only guess.

Flipping the doll around, Alura's eyes widened as she saw a faded name on the bottom of the doll, the doll falling out of her hand in shock. The faded name written on the doll was Ana.

* * *

**That you for reading! For those of you that don't remember Ana was Alura's daughter. I would like to thank everyone who supported and reviewed for this story! I'm not too sure if Ben and Alura's relationship will become romantic or if it will just be pure friendship. I'm stuck at the crossroads on this one. So if anyone has any input feel free to tell me cause I'm up for suggestions. Either way their relationship is slowly improving.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok so here is the next chapter. Please enjoy and review!**

* * *

From then on Alura wandered around the caverns, lost in thought and in shock. Was her daughter here? Did she die? How did she get here? The thoughts swirled around her head, assaulting her brain again and again and again.

"Yo, Alura, are you okay?" Dom asked, Alura snapping her head in his direction, her eyes glazed over as if she didn't see him. It seemed like she wasn't even looking at him.

"W-What?" Alura asked, her eyes focusing on the man. She was so lost in thought she didn't hear him.

"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Dom commented, Alura seemingly more pale than normal as she turned her gaze toward the old doll she was clutching in her hand. Dom raised a brow as the woman held it up for him to take, the soldier taking the doll gently, observing it.

"Hey, I remember these! My daughter used to always play with one. I'm surprised this thing survived the war." Dom spoke, squeezing the toy gently, making it cry before noticing faded lettering on the doll's bottom.

"She is my daughter." Alura stated, Dom looking at the woman in shock before looking sullen, understanding as he handed her back the doll.

"I'm sorry, Alura. Is she...?"

"I don't know. I don't remember. But...But now that I have this...I think she might be." Alura replied softly, a weak smile tugging at her lips, but her eyes shown nothing but doubt. She knew better than to get her hopes up.

"Do you still think she's here? Cole and I can help look for you." Dom offered, smiling reassuringly, Alura's eyes lighting up.

"Y...You would? Truly? You would help me find my baby?" Alura asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Of course. I know the feeling of losing your kid. I'm looking for someone too." Dom admitted, suddenly looking sullen.

"Who, may I ask?"

"My wife, Maria." Dom paused, as if lost in thought. "I...lost her after E-Day. I don't know where she is or if she is even alive but, I need to know, ya know?"

"I understand. The wondering...the not knowing...it hurts more than knowing the truth. At least with the truth you can be at rest." Alura spoke softly, her eyes lights lighting up with recognition.

"Oh, I...um...this is yours." Alura stated, Dom's eyes going wide upon seeing the woman pull a photo out of her pocket. It was of him and Maria.

"My...My photo. How did you find this?" Dom asked, Alura handing it to him gently, her hand shaking slightly.

"I stepped on it. Sorry." Alura apologized, Dom now noticing it had part of a shoe print on it. At least it wasn't torn.

"Ben and I were going to give it to you but...that's when the attack happened." Alura muttered softly, Dom sighing in relief.

"Thanks, Alura. I really mean it. I was going crazy without this photo. I don't know what I would have done if I never found it." Dom admitted, smiling warmly at Alura as she nodded, smiling softly.

"When we're done looking for Ana, I want to help. I want to help you find your wife like you helped me. As thanks."

"You don't have to do that. Just giving me the picture of my wife is more than enough thanks." Dom replied, smiling.

"But...okay." Alura gave up. She still wanted to help Dom though. She liked him. Dom was nice, so unlike the ones at the breeding center.

"C'mon, now. Let's look for Ana." Dom spoke, walking toward a group of children as Alura followed.

Since many of the children were too young to remember the little girl, the pair mainly focused on asking the older children. Some children claimed they never remembered such a girl by the name Ana, while others claimed they did but couldn't remember what had become of her. Upon seeing the pair's distress, Cole approached the pair, little Lions following the former quarterback like a tail.

"Yo! What's with the long faces?" Cole asked, Alura clutching the doll quietly as if she too was a child, Dom frowning at his teammate.

"Alura found a doll that belonged to her daughter. We were asking the kids to see if they knew anything." Dom replied, Cole piercing his lips together before speaking.

"And I guess by the look on ya'lls faces you didn't find anything." Cole more so stated, frowning as well.

"No." Alura replied softly, sniffing.

"Well, shit. What areas did you guys cover?"

"This whole cavern, Cole Train." Dom stated, shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "I'm sorry, Alura." Dom apologized sadly to the woman, Alura nodding her head.

"It's okay. I...I should have known better. Thank you, Dom." Alura smiled weakly at the man, her eyes watering as she blinked back the tears.

"So...what now?" Alura asked after a pause, Lions tugging on Cole's pants.

"Well ask around again tomorrow, Alura. We'll find her. Don't worry." Dom spoke with reassurance, giving her a thumbs up as she nodded.

"Thanks. I really mean it."

"No sweat. It's the least I could do." Dom spoke, looking to see Cole kneeling down to Lions height.

"It's stowy time, Cole Train!" Lions spoke, his eyes alight with excitement in his voice, Cole laughing loudly.

"Story time? The Cole Train loves story time! C'mon, little buddy, let's go!" Cole cheered, Lions leading the adult away, Dom shaking his head.

"He really is a kid." Dom replied, chuckling. "You wanna go?"

"Sure." Alura replied, following the Gear toward the back of the cave where Lions led Cole, the caverns becoming small tunnels, a large bonfire lighting up the cave.

"Holy shit. Look at the size of that fire. Better hope no one gets carbon monoxide poisoning down here." Dom commented, seeing most of the children huddled around the fire, Cole already sitting down.

"Hey, guys! Hahaha! You decided to join the party!" Cole laughed, happy to be dry and warm as Dom sat next to Cole and Alura sat by Lions, the young boy on Cole's other side.

"Hi!" Lions greeted, Alura smiling at the young boy.

"Hello, honey." Alura greeted, noticing Marcus was standing off to the side, watching the group. Alura could see the slightest tug on the corners of his mouth. It must have been a real change to see that innocence still existed in this world.

The laughter of the children died and Harvey approached, the young man putted a black mask over his head and breathing heavily, another boy joining him in front of the fire. Both boys had fake wooden swords, one green, the other red. It was then Alura noticed they were trying to reenact Star Wars, Harvey being Darth Vader and the boy being Luke Skywalker.

Dom couldn't help but laugh at their comical attempts, Marcus smiling slightly as he watched the pair.

"Hey, Dom? Do you feel that?" Cole asked, feeling the bottom of the cavern begin to vibrate, Dom furrowing his brows. "Yeah, now that you mention it. What the hell is that?"

"Snowmen!" Lions shrieked in terror, suddenly sobbing as several children began to panic, the older kids working on calming the younger ones down.

"Shhhh. Shhhhh. It's okay, it's okay." Harvey spoke softly, moving from group to group. "Just stay quiet and the snow men will go away." Harvey spoke calmly, having done this one too many times.

"W-What's going on?!" Alura whispered, Marcus on edge, cursing to himself.

"Baird was right." Dom said quietly, shaking his head as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Shhhh, Lions, it's okay." Alura cooed softly, wrapping the boy in her arms, the small boy trembling as the vibrations of moving troops and creatures became louder.

"The Locusts are here. Just on the other side of the cavern's wall. We're just in an abandoned section." Dom spoke, Alura instinctively rocking the boy.

"Shhhh, Lions." Alura soothed softly, at a lose of how to calm the boy.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word..." Alura sang softly, singing being the only thing she could think of.

"Mama's gonna but you a mocking bird..." Her soft voice seemed to calm Lions, the boy hauling in his cries.

"But if that mocking bird don't sing..." Alura continued, several other children calming down

"Mama's gonna guy you a diamond ring...and if that diamond ring don't shine..." Alura paused, gulping as the darkness invaded her mind. The screams. The smells.

"Mama's gonna lock you up where the sun don't shine..."


End file.
